The Rose Treatment
by Whip the Rabbit
Summary: When Amy's closest friends decide that her obsession with Sonic is /maaaaybe/ getting out of hand, the rosy hedgehog suddenly finds herself having to finally deal with the chaotic emotions surrounding the eponymous blue hero. Luckily, she has the support of her new friend, Romani! ...The Psychologist.
1. Chapter 0 -- Help Needed

"Cr-Creeam!" She whined.

"Please Amy?" The young girl begged, lightly pulling at the hem of her scarlet dress. "I really do think this is for the best! Please trust me!"

"B-but…" The pink hedgehog stammered.

"My mother believes it would help you too." Cream asserted politely. Her chao doted her from behind, rubbing against her as a reminder and glancing up at Amy with the sweetest, cutest expression she'd ever seen from a chao. "Cheese thinks so too, Right Cheese?"

Even if his bright blue eyes hadn't won her over, the short, unintelligible confirmation Cheese gave to his owner and best friend was more than enough for her breath to catch. Maybe she could have weaseled away from just Cream if she'd mentally debated whether it was right to do or not, but not both of them. Not Cream _and _Cheese, both beaming her with their bright, caring expressions and making her feel both guilty for having wanted to leave in the first place, and slightly uncomfortable. The little girl may have been her best friend, but she was very devious, in her own, cute and polite way.

"I… Alright." Amy finally relented, releasing with her breath, the will to fight any more.

"Promise?" Cream wondered. Amy would have simply restated her answer, which, to her defense, was at this moment, completely honest, but after her behavior before, she already knew that it wasn't enough. There were very few things that Amy Rose regretted in her life: Strawberry-Chocolate Bonbons, inventing Boxercising, and lying to Cream. _Especially_ lying to Cream. And yet, whenever the temptation came… whenever _that_ was a choice, an option, even a sliver of a hope that she could possibly dream of realizing, she acted. Even when Cream made her promise, made her swear up and down that she wouldn't, she simply couldn't help herself and did it anyways.

Her eyes wandered briefly to the solid oak door that towered a good five feet higher than she stood tall, watching the letters emblazoned along the top in a copper tint that seemed to glare back at her dauntingly, as though threatening to torment her if she so much as thought of continuing on through it. Yet, even as she stood, even as she felt the urge begin to creep through her legs and trail its way slowly towards her heart and mind, she heard a short, quiet murmur that she didn't quite recognize as her own voice.

"_Maybe… I need this._"

Amy glanced back down towards the young rabbit and smiled, offering her pinky as a peace offering. It was the one link that kept her credibility, that pinky. Some days, she felt that all of the trust that she had left in her friend was stored there, and no matter how hard she wanted to, she would not let that last smidgeon go. Cream quickly tied her own pinky with Amy's and giggled thankfully, tossing herself around Amy in a short hug before stepping away and curtseying to her respectfully.

"Thank you Amy. Thank you very much. I promise, she will help you."

Amy stood upright and stared the threatening name on the door down again, feeling a drain on her earlier confidence. Still, she'd just bound her life to that pinky promise. There was no going back on her word now, she realized.

"If you say so, Cream." She mumbled. The young rabbit took another gentle bow and, assuring her chao did the same, skipped away down the long hall and nearly out of sight. She turned around and gave the hedgehog one last wave before disappearing completely, and before leaving Amy there, alone, in the one place she couldn't feel any less secure about staying.

"_Come on Amy Rose, you can do this_." Her chest inflated with a deep, ensuring breath, and she released it as slowly as is came. It was just a name. Just a person. Just somebody that she had to encounter, to make Cream happy, and then simply move on with her life. That was all. The bothersome tag that studded the door couldn't, and didn't, even have the power to hope to stop her. Nothing did. She was strong. She was powerful. She was better than this, and she was going to barge through that doorway and take whatever life planned on throwing at her head on, name and title be-darned!

_Romani S. Docks, Ph.D._


	2. Chapter 1 -- Building Blocks

"Amy Rose."

Her first impression of the room wasn't very impressive. There was a nice, homely feeling to all of the furnishings, a deep, healthy brown kind of wood seemed to make up most of the desks and chairs, and there were small, potted flowers that she could recognize by name dotting the many flat surfaces. Behind the largest desk, there was a large, flat window that took up the majority of the wall, overlooking the incredible view that the fourth-story room had to offer of the clear, bright blue sky as it rained its shining light down upon the rest of Central City.

And yet, she felt a distinct lack of pink stopped the otherwise gorgeous room from doing anything for her.

Still, she responded to her name and switched her attention to the doctor, whom stood by one of her potted plants. She had apparently been watering it, for she set down a small pail and instead retrieved a clipboard, and a pencil from behind her ear. Even by human standards, she didn't seem to stand out to the young hedgehog, her hair tied in a bun and her outfit, dreadfully dull, but professionally friendly, at least. As she made her way towards the large table by the window and sat in a simple-looking chair, she motioned for Amy to take a seat as well.

"My… a very big name to meet." Romani complimented, her clipboard resting in her lap as she smiled softly to the hedgehog.

"It's not, really. I'm just a simple city girl." Amy replied casually, waving down the subtle praise. In truth, she never expected anybody to pay her any mind when there were so many bigger heroes out there in the world. All she had ever done was follow others around and happen to get involved in whatever _they_ were planning. Yet, the recognition she sometimes received was… nice.

"Well, even so. Meeting someone like you is very exciting, I promise you." She laughed, picking up the clipboard and holding it closely to her chest. The doctor extended her hand down to Amy to shake. "My name, though not as big, is Romani Docks, and I will be your Psychologist for today. Please feel free to call me either Romani or Ms. Docks."

"It's nice to meet you, Romani." Amy greeted pleasantly, taking her hand in earnest. Romani's grip seemed tiny and enveloped itself in her larger grip, but the woman seemed unaffected by the discrepancy and simply adjusted the papers in her hands, scanning across them before she spoke again.

"For records' sake, I'm going to ask a simple few questions, is that alright?"

"That's fine." She replied.

"Thank you. Your full name would be Amy Rose. Correct? No middle name?"

"No ma'am." She answered.

"And Amy isn't short for, say, Amelia, or anything?" Romani questioned, scribbling down on her board.

"No ma'am. Just, Amy Rose."

"Alright… Female, right?"

"Uhm!" Amy scoffed, taken aback by the sincerity of the psychologist's question.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I have to… I mean, It's protocol not to assume." She explained rapidly, her cheeks brightening as she nodded apologetically. "Mobians tend to have varying… It's not as obvious for…"

"That's fine, I understand!" Amy waved off. She wasn't sure what exactly about her made the gender aspect so ambiguous, but then, considering where she currently sat, she could only imagine the kinds of patients that would make such a rule necessary in the first place. Romani's reddened cheeks almost seemed to try to hide behind the clipboard as she continued.

"So… Species is Hedgehog?"

"Yes ma'am."

"And… twelve years old?"

"Turning thirteen this fall." She asserted carefully. She was tired of being told that '_twelve and three quarters isn't a real age_' and instead asked Madam Vanilla if there was a more intellectual way of saying it. She really wanted to be thirteen and wasn't very happy with how slowly time seemed to move.

"I see…" Romani's pen continued to scratch against the paper, reaching a point, begging a question, and then continuing. When she reached the next section, she took a short, unexpected-and-yet-hardly-noticeable pause.

"Marital status?"

"In a relationship."

As this, Amy's psychologist stopped the scribbling altogether. The sudden change in pace forced the hedgehog's ears to perk in place, noticing the human's expression shift just slightly. Her pen picked up again as though the pause hadn't happened, though Amy only felt even more curious as a result.

"A relationship, you say?" The brunette woman considered. "For a heroine like you? He sounds pretty special."

"Oh, he _is_!" There is was. The familiar rush of energy and memories and simple happiness. It rode across her mind like a simplifying wave, happy, calming, and yet exciting all at the same time. As soon as the thoughts of him triggered, she felt as though nothing else mattered but those thoughts as they wiped away all the worries and bad feelings she might have had before. "He's the most amazing, thoughtful, dreamy boyfriend in the world! He's kind and sweet and caring and strong and _really really_ fast and-!"

"What's his name?" She interrupted, though Amy neither found it rude nor could she bring herself to care, now overcome with the warm, loving thoughts as they flooded all around her and filled her every cell with absolute joy. Her voice dreamily relayed from the far reaches of her conscious mind, nearly losing itself in her now-entranced mindset as she responded to the psychologist.

"Sonic! Sonic the hedgehog!"

"Sonic, you say?"

"Yeah! He's the coolest man I've ever met! He's got such beautiful green eyes and his quills are such a deep, deep blue! And everything about him is just perfect and wonderful and-!"

The scratching of Romani's pen finally drew her attention back to the real world. The psychologist seemed to intently write things down, reasonably at first, but then her writing continued for a just long enough time that Amy began to feel excluded from the thoughts. Though she tried to keep her patience under a lid, eventually, she began to tap her boot, and then cross her arms, until finally, curiosity overcame her.

"What are you writing?" She asked, trying to keep her slight aggravation away from her tone. Romani finally glanced up at Amy from her notes, her pen mystically still writing even without her attention, and then looked back down at the clipboard again intently.

"A story." Romani answered. "I like writing stories. I can submerge myself in them and not have to pay attention to real life things that bother me. It's the easy way out, you see."

"Huh?" The hedgehog's brow furrowed slightly. Romani almost seemed to be… mocking her somehow, down to mimicking the gentle tapping that Amy had taken to doing with her foot and the general posture. Romani glanced up again at Amy once again, and once again as well, her eyes drooped back down into the pad.

"You know, hiding from my problems. Making things up. 'S a lot easier than facing reality." Now Amy was positive; Romani was definitely mocking her! The pen noticeably spun in the same spot over and over again and the human sunk further into her chair to match Amy's short posture, with a debatably ridiculous result. She didn't want to become upset with the psychologist that had seemed so kind a moment ago, but the hedgehog also couldn't help but feel deeply insulted by the implications Romani seemed to be making. Had it been Knuckles, there would have been 500 psi. of hammer upside her head already, with promise of more to come.

After a third glance, however, Romani abruptly sat up straight in her seat and seemed to actually write something down before catching Amy's eyes for a final time, no traces of malicious mimicry within them at all.

"Amy… do you know why you're here?" She inquired cautiously, watching Amy closely as though she were an unsure figment of her mind.

"I'm here because Cream signed me up for it." Amy responded with exasperation. The memory of her friend having convinced her to visit a psychologist not too long ago was still fresh in her mind. Poor Cream probably didn't deserve to feel such pain, but then, how else was Amy supposed to respond? Cream had basically called her a psychopath and asked her to visit a shrink! It was an easy mistake to make, one that she had no control over! Anyone with access to a massive hammer would have done the same, Amy was positive. And it wasn't like she didn't go and buy Cream ice cream afterwards as an apology.

"Yes, Cream. Sweet little girl. Takes after her mother so much." Romani contemplated sweetly, interesting Amy with her past relationship with Vanilla. "Her mother was an ex-coworker of mine, a year or so ago."

That at least explained why both Cream and Madam Vanilla were so excited for this psychologist in particular. From the sound of it, she seemed to be a family friend of some sort, one whom had regular contact with Vanilla at the least. Amy was not very surprised to learn of the elder rabbit's past career, and indeed felt it was a pretty safe match, considering the woman's passive, helpful nature. She wondered what kind of psychosis the mother must have thought she had, suddenly, to want to send her to a doctor to be treated. The thought was rather worrying.

"The reason your friend asked you to come to me today is because she's worried about you." Romani explained carefully. "She's concerned about… your relationship with Sonic the Hedgehog. She thinks that your… care for him may be becoming unhealthy-"

"Cream would never say that!" Amy snapped defensively, hopping out of her seat angrily. Her voiced suddenly felt enraged, but she didn't care. "And my relationship with Sonic is perfectly healthy! We're the healthiest couple of all time!"

Romani set her clipboard down and held her gaze against Amy's rampage. Her eyes were neither challenging nor scared, but rather, analytical, with just a hint of concern. She was watching Amy's rage-contorted face in the opposite way that most people did, namely by not running and cowering in fear. Even without the clipboard, she appeared to be making notes, mental notes, and waiting for a further response. When she got none, her eyes softened and went back down to her clipboard.

"Amy, don't you think this has gotten out of hand?" She asked the hedgehog genuinely. Amy felt another surge of anger course through her, but… something about Romani's tone kept her from flipping out again. She was simply being asked a question, whether or not it was one Amy liked. Taking enough time to regain her composure, Amy sat down again, this time crossing her legs as she uncomfortably considered the question.

"I don't think anything's out of hand." She grumpily replied. "Sonic and I are happy and there's nothing unhealthy about it."

"_Is_ Sonic happy?"

Amy was seriously becoming less and less happy with this psychologist with each passing question. If there was something she was even more sick about than her age, it was people telling her that she was 'crazy', and that Sonic 'would never love her'. What didn't people get about their relationship? Of course Sonic never took her out on dates unless she asked him. He was a world-class hero, constantly struggling to keep the world safe from harm! It was unwarranted, nice though it'd be, for him to come to her and take her somewhere special, or to give her a hug and a kiss like other boyfriends do, or to even shake her hand in a friendly manner…

No. She didn't want those thoughts to come back. She _hated_ those thoughts. Sonic _was_ happy with her. That's it. There was nothing else to consider. He was busy and in love with her, but work came before pleasure. Period. Though, even as she told this to Romani defiantly, neither the psychologist nor the hedgehog herself felt entirely sold by the idea.

"Okay, fine. Let's humor the idea that Sonic is happy with you, but too busy to give you the time of day." Romani began, her words stirring unsettling feelings inside Amy that she resented the doctor for stirring. "What about _you_? Can you honestly say that you're satisfied by the way Sonic treats _you_?"

"And before you respond, please," She interrupted her counterattack quickly. "Just, think about it for a moment. Take time before you respond."

The pink hedgehog would have preferred not to think about it. As prompted, however, her mind slowly began to leak the short moments between the two of them in her head. She went over every thought, and her mind passed over each expression and the memories of his tones and his motions and…

The trend upset her. Her most common memory… was of his back. His spiny, sharp blue going-hundreds-of-miles-above-the-speed-limit-fast back. His face was incredibly less common for her, and a smile, a genuine smile directed unflinchingly towards her was… nonexistent.

Sonic had never smiled for her, she realized. There were nervous grins, sure, and even a smile that she'd thought was genuine, before he suddenly took off running afterwards. But she had been chasing him for several years now, desperately pining in hopes that he would one day turn his back away from her, and face her, and maybe even compliment her or something, but it had never come.

And there came the thought that had haunted her for so many nights. One that would not dissipate no matter how hard she wanted it to, that she could hardly deal with alone, before bed, much less fully conscious and in broad daylight, that screamed at her and yelled at her and, horrifyingly enough, whispered to her a truth that she never wanted to accept: '_Sonic doesn't love you._'

"I just…" She tried. Her voice cracked under the pressure of her painfully beating heart that seemed to be pumping something heavy into the back of her eyes. She blinked the pressure away in an attempt to keep it from coming forth.

"I want…" It was no use. Her conscious mind was screaming at her unconscious mind, and her happiness bellowed and contracted against the sea of chaotic emotions that slowly started to roar within her and swirl against the inside of her chest, and before she could fight to control all of the opposing factions inside of her, the pressure behind her eyes mutinously sneaked past her control, welling through her tear ducts and steaming across her muzzle.

"I just want Sonic to love me." She squeaked desperately. She hated this woman for making her face her feelings. She wanted to hide. She was embarrassed, ashamed, disgusted at herself. She was unhappy, she was sad, she wondered what about her made Sonic _hate _her so much. She understood Romani's prodding, but why would she prod so hard though!? It was none of her business! This was her fault! These emotions weren't hers! She was happy with Sonic! Sonic was happy with her! She _loved_ him! He _loved _her! There was no question!

And yet, the same, quiet voice overcame the loud shouting of her simple emotions with a single utterance. '_That's not true._'

Her small frame sputtered as more tears, heavier, hotter tears blew past the floodgates and started a steady pour across her face. She hugged herself self-consciously and lowered her head to try and hide away her ugly face as she scrunched up the brim of her muzzle and her brow, and all the while, she couldn't stand the weak squealing she made as her once-short coughs slowly turned into repeated cries. "I just want Sonic to love me! That's it!"

Somehow, in between her mental swears against herself for being such a spaz and reassurances that Sonic would never love her, Romani had approached Amy very closely, knelt just in front of her seat to the point that if she looked up, they would have been at eye-level. She felt the psychologist gently brush her bangs away from her eyes, and her voice came out very softly, like the gentle caress of a mother to their child.

"Amy… would it be okay if I hugged you?" She asked.

Without a single thought otherwise, Amy nodded her head and then threw her arms around Romani in embrace. She couldn't understand what about the woman was able to unlock her so quickly and easily, but the feeling of someone, warm and kind, holding her and caring about her simply left her in ruins. There were so many feelings exploding within her all at once, so many things that she couldn't understand, that simply having the support felt… nice.

* * *

"Are you feeling better?" Romani asked her, several minutes having passed since Amy fought back her tears. The psychologist had offered her a small bar of chocolate, which she graciously accepted and nibbled against quietly. Amy's mind still raced, though her thoughts no longer screamed, but rather buzzed in the back of her mind like a swarm of bees. She hoped none of them attempted to come and sting her again.

Amy nodded to the woman and bit from the bar again, appreciating the sweet flavor in spite of her emotions. There was a particular worry that floated around her head, but… she was afraid of asking. Still, it was something that had to be questioned, and if she was going to believe it from somebody, at the moment, it would have been Romani.

"Romani… am I crazy?" Amy's quavering voice questioned, still weak from the sobs she suffered. Romani simply shook her head and chuckled in a kind-hearted manner.

"No, Amy. You're not crazy." She reassured. "In fact, this kind of issue is very normal for somebody of your age, though Cream was right to bring you here anyway."

Romani glanced down at her papers again, her eyes surmising all of the notes she'd taken since Amy entered the room. "You see, at your age, there are many things that begin to change, and possibly the biggest change occurs with your emotions. Even for someone with very stoic feelings, the kinds of changed when they reach your age tend to be drastic, and from my understanding, you've liked Sonic for quite a while, haven't you?"

"Years." Amy supplied, eyes deep in consideration.

"I can only imagine that your affection has grown considerably lately." Romani hypothesized to the hedgehog. Amy glanced down at her boots, apparently intent with the way she continued to let them hang above the ground.

"I have felt like… I need to be closer to him lately." She admitted. "I've always thought he was amazing, but lately, I feel like it's not enough just to see him and watch him. I want to be around him too."

"I see… Amy?" Amy's head popped up upon being addressed again. "Do you mind if I ask you a few more questions?"

"Okay." Amy accepted, nodding her head.

"Thank you." Romani began to flip through a few papers on her clipboard before apparently settling on one. She scribbled a few things onto it, then looked up from the board back at Amy. "Okay Amy. Can you describe to me the feeling you get when you see Sonic come by? I mean, if he were, saying, shopping at the same market as you, how would you feel?"

Amy pondered upon the feeling curiously. "I would… probably feel really happy. Like, my chest would start to feel warm, and my tummy would get all bubbly, and I would suddenly really, really want to talk to him."

"And which of these feelings would you act upon first?" The woman inquired.

"Uh?"

"I mean, when you get these feelings, is there any particular order that you act? For instance, do you act on your bubbly tummy, or your warm chest, or do you simply talk to him first?" Romani expanded, using her pen idly as a gesture.

"Oh…" Amy's eyes drifted away in thought. "To be honest, I would probably want to fill the warmth in my chest by running up to him and give him a great big hug. I'd have to do it from behind though, or he'd see me coming and run away."

"…And that never seemed like a sign to you?" The woman questioned dryly.

"I-I thought he was just playing hard-to-get." She replied shyly, rubbing a sudden itch behind her head nervously. "I mean, I guess he told me to stop sometimes, but I thought he was playing really-hard-to-get…"

"We'll come back to that later." Romani suggested, a smirk developing despite herself as she wrote something down. "So, you tend to throw yourself at him, and that solves the warmth in your chest? What about the bubbling in your stomach?"

"Well…" Amy shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Usually I… ask him to marry me."

"…Amy, you understand that you're twelve years old, right?" She asked, lowering her glasses to watch her unguarded.

"Almost thirteen!" Amy replied indignantly.

"Which is still not of the legal age in the United Federation." Romani responded, clearly cutting Amy down. "Though even if you're simply playing around, do you think about how that might make him feel?"

"How he might feel?" Amy wondered curiously. "I… I just thought that if he liked me, he would feel happy that I was willing to marry him."

"And what if he didn't like you the way you like him?"

"But-!" She flared again. This time, however, the flare died as abruptly as it began. "But… he told me he liked me."

"Under what context?" The psychologist asked. "Do you think he might have meant that he likes you as a friend? From what I understand, Sonic is a very friendly person."

"I…" It was true. Amy had never, or more accurately, hadn't _wanted_ to ever consider Sonic simply wanting her friendship alone. She hadn't imagined Sonic disliking her proposals. There had always been other considerations that she preferred, like the male hedgehog being too busy saving the world, or him being far too nervous in front of his friends to accept. And she knew that the law wouldn't have _actually_ let them marry even if he had said yes, but… she thought that if they agreed now, that he would wait for her until the day came that they could. But if Sonic didn't like her that way…

"He might have…" She confessed, seeming more downtrodden than ever before. "Sonic is a good friend. Even if he disliked everything about me, he would still like me as a friend and let me know it too."

Romani finished another quick line and then let her pen go still once again, but her eyes looked on with Amy sympathetically. "…Just one more question, okay?"

"How do you normally fulfill your desire to talk with Sonic?"

"Um…" The pink hedgehog's hands interlocked with each other as she tried to recall a conversation between the two of them. "If Sonic stays around long enough for us to talk, I normally tell him how great I think he is, and how much I l-love him, and if I have any rings, I ask him to take me on dates sometimes too." With all the previous actions and now this in perspective, Amy's ears dropped to the sides of her head. "Do you think… that was too forward of me?"

" A little bit." Romani minimized as much as she could. "And… has he ever accepted any of the dates you proposed?"

"A few times."

"…Really?" Amy felt her heart pick up with Romani's response. She wasn't sure what that response meant, but whatever it was, it was different. Still, the psychologist simply readjusted her glasses as a response and continued. "How did they go?"

"Oh, uh, we… never actually went on the dates." She explained meekly. "I offered to pay and everything, but something always comes up. He's really busy, saving the world, I mean." Upon thinking about it, Amy puffed her cheeks out in frustration. "Sometimes I think he's making it up though."

"Well, to be honest, from any other person, it would be highly suspect to me." Romani laughed. "But I think, all things considered, Sonic is probably the exception."

"You haven't heard some of his stories." Amy grinned, crossing her arms in faux-annoyance. "Genies sucking him into a book, Aliens from another planet. One time he tried to convince me he was a Werehog!"

"A… Werehog?" Romani questioned. "Wouldn't that be a-"

"A Human Pig, yeah!" Amy confirmed actively. "Can you believe it? He could at least get the wording right." Despite her complaints, Amy enjoyed the smiles on both of their faces as they teased the Blue Blur's absences. For some reason, simply laughing at him seemed to make her feel much, much better.

Eventually, they quieted just enough that Romani looked at her clipboard once again. With a smile still brightly lit upon her face, she glanced back at Amy and, for the first time, set down her board upon the table between them.

"Amy, I think I can both see your general problem and may be able to help you." She announced confidently. "But in order for this to work, you have to trust what I say and honestly, _honestly_, put an effort forth to make it work, okay?"

"Yeah! Okay!" Amy nodded excitedly. "I trust you Romani."

"Good. First of all, I don't think you actually love Sonic."

Well, she _had_ trusted Romani, in any event.

"H-how can you say that!?" Amy exclaimed, making the again-comparison of a crimson echidna enjoying the taste of hammer. "Of course I love Sonic! He's my everything!"

"And that, I believe, is your other problem." Romani continued, again unafraid of Amy's outburst. "Amy, your whole life seems to be dedicated to waking, eating, Sonic, and then sometimes sleeping. How long did it take for you to think of Sonic after you entered my room?"

Amy blushed. "I… was kind of already thinking of him before I came in."

"And how often does that go on each day?"

"Um… a lot?" Amy sat down once again, her cheeks feeling hotter than before. "I do dedicate my life around him, but… isn't that what people in love do?"

"In some cases." Romani stated. "But that isn't how love should _start_. Amy, can you tell me how you met Sonic?"

"He saved my life." She replied. "I'd always idolized him, but one day, my tarot cards told me I'd meet him in person if I went to Little Planet, and when I got there, Dr. Robotnik kidnapped me, but Sonic saved me!"

"And from that moment on, you pretty much dedicated your life to him?"

"If it wasn't for him, Robotnik would have turned me into a machine. I owe him my life." She rebutted.

"And it's a wonderful thing that he saved your life." Romani agreed. "But could it be that you're feeling admiration, not affection?"

"Admiration?" Amy wondered. "But that's the same thing, isn't it?"

Romani shook her head. "Amy, there are many intricacies that come with feeling pleasant towards somebody, and sometimes, they are very hard to understand, so we make mistakes. That said…" She continued, making sure Amy noted her caution. "It's possible that you might actually feel love for him. But as of right now, I feel that your attraction is for many wrong reasons."

"Then, if I'm loving him for the wrong reasons, how can I tell if I do love him for the right ones too?" She asked worriedly.

"Well… that's what we've set off to find out." Romani decided. "Amy, there are a couple of things I want you to try between this meeting and the next. The first is easy, but has some steps, and the second has only one step, but may be… challenging."

"The first thing I'm going to ask you to do is change how you act when you're around Sonic." Romani explained, lifting her hand demonstratively. "For starters, you should treat him the way you would treat your other close friends, like Cream. When you first see him, I want you to resist the urge to hug him or kiss him or grab or anything, okay? Talk _with_ him, instead of to him. He is a person, the same as you, and he might not like talking about just himself all of the time. In fact, don't be afraid to tell him about interesting things that _you've_ been up to, if he's willing to listen. Just be yourself, and remember that even in the closest of relationships, the friendship between them comes first."

"Secondly, as I already said, try to avoid… _touching_ him, or standing too closely. Give him a personal boundary of about one foot, give or take. Respect his personal space, okay? And if you absolutely cannot resist yourself, find a small reason to maybe shake hands, or a high five, or something. The key point here is to respect him as a person, giving him space. Nobody thinks it's fair to be touched in a way that makes them feel inappropriate, understand?"

"And finally, don't… be so overt with your feelings, especially about him. Love is supposed to be something mutual, you know? If you simply try to force marriage or children onto him, he might not agree or even want to agree with that. He has a choice in these matters, and again, it is one that I feel you should respect. If true romantic interest develops between the two of you, it will happen naturally, and trying to force it might not end so well. Do you understand?"

Where there was a dull roar in her mind now stood absorbing silence. It was as though her psychologist had become one of the women's magazines that she liked to read so often, only her advice… felt more solid. She wasn't completely sure how much she liked the idea of restraining her feelings, but everything Romani relayed to her made sense, even more sense than she admitted some of her own ideas made to her. She repeated the instructions to herself carefully, and slowly, she felt a realistic seed of a chance plant itself within her.

"Yeah." She responded. "Yeah, I understand. Don't talk about him to him so much, don't touch him so much, and don't… tell him I love him so much."

"Right." Romani appreciated. "If you treat yourself as though you're something more than a satellite to his presence, then he's much more likely to positively respond to you."

"And that leads well into my next request." The human's eyes shifted away nervously, as though even she wasn't positive of how safe her next request would be to ask to Amy Rose. "I'm… going to ask you to see Sonic only a few times per week."

"Wh-what?" Amy exclaimed, feeling unreasonably threatened by the mere statement. "Wh-what do you mean? You want me to spend _less_ time with my- w-with Sonic?"

"Yes. That is exactly what I want you to do." She confirmed bluntly, adjusting her glasses once again. "Every week, I want you to spend less than half of your days actively with Sonic. At this point in time, I'm worried that what may now be a harmless want to be around him may… develop into something worse, Amy. People in your position who don't care for themselves enough become dependent upon their object of interest, and it could turn into an obsession. What if you woke up one morning and you, say, didn't want Sonic to spend time with his female friends anymore?"

"Well…" Amy tried to defend.

"And what if you decided _all _of his friends were a threat? Or his family should he have any? What if you decided he was never to leave your sight?" Romani stopped her possibilities just short of genuinely scaring Amy. Her accusations didn't scare her merely because of the content, but rather, because of how… possible they seemed to her. She _did_ feel uncomfortable when he spoke to Blaze, and Rouge, and all of the other girls she'd seen him with. And… at times, when she was all alone, there were sometimes entertained thoughts of _making_ him marry her. She never took those thoughts seriously, but…

"I think you're a wonderful person, Amy." Romani sympathized, lowering her glasses and softening her voice. "But you don't seem to care about yourself nearly as much as you care about Sonic, and that isn't healthy. I want you to spend no more than three days actively spending time with or for Sonic. For the rest of the week, I want you to _do you_. Do whatever it may be that _Amy_ wants to do. Find a hobby that you enjoy, or spend time with _other_ friends. Pick up a job, _something_. If you happen to run into him, then keep the meeting brief and don't let it define the day. I feel that you have little to no confidence in yourself, and with such a loose foundation of self-worth, it's very easy to feel like you owe your entire existence to somebody else. But you are Amy Rose, and you are somebody worth standing on their own two feet for."

"Th-thank you." Amy sputtered. It hadn't taken her long to begin crying again, but these tears were so, _so_ much better. She wanted to cry and when she did, she felt happy for some odd reason. She felt _recognition_, and she felt as though she were receiving attention that she never knew she'd wanted. Amy shook her head and wiped the tears from her face, trying in vain to control her flighty feelings enough to thank the psychologist coherently. "Thank you, R-Romani!"

"It was my pleasure, Amy Rose." Romani smiled to the young hedgehog. "We'll pick up again next week, okay? Remember what we've talked about today and stick to it. Build up your self worth, and…"

She hesitated. "…I want you to at least entertain the notion that… perhaps you really don't love Sonic, alright?"

But Amy could do that. After all the help Romani had given her, and the advice that made things so clear for the hedgehog, Amy could do that much for the human woman. She could at least keep it in the back of her mind, and nodded in agreement. "I will, Romani. I promise, I'll do my best this week! I'll… I'll try to become a stronger person!"

"Then until next week, Amy." She waved in fare well. Before Amy could turn to leave, though, Romani suddenly offered her a small card. "Here. I do have a busy work week, but if anything emergent happens, please promise you'll leave me a message to respond to when I have the chance."

"Oh!" Amy accepted the card readily and tucked it away with her hammer. "Yes ma'am. Thank you. Thank you very much."

"Okay then. Goodbye Amy."

And as Amy pushed her way through the thick oaken door, she felt a new synergized energy that she couldn't place, but couldn't complain about either. She was now determined, and now, she knew the steps she had to take. She would find out, once and for all, whether or not she and Sonic could fulfill her childhood dreams together. No matter how long it took, she would stand tall on her own, and she would show Sonic what she was really worth, and then _she_ would be the one deciding to share her love with him or not!

As she watched the floor drift by with each step, a small tail of a thought followed the first quickly.

'_I hope_.'


End file.
